Expanding possibilities

Theatrical improvisers are encouraged to ‘follow the follower’, which allows scenes to evolve or be co-created organically. "Follow the follower’ is also a useful approach to life, allowing us to work with life, rather than be passive and/or fight it (and, sooner or later, lose).

In order to ‘follow the follower’ improvisers have to :-

• Pay close attention to what is happening, including their own subtle or emerging feelings. (if they do not allow their feelings to inform the scene, the scene will feel false).
• Accept what is happening. It can occasionally be funny to disrupt a scene by telling the other improvisers they are talking rubbish, but it also kills the scene.
• When applicable, change direction in order to go with the scene.
• Know which impulses to follow.
• Build.

How do these apply to life?

Pay close attention to what is happening

If we want to fight life we can focus on how it ’should’ be, and resist how it actually is. If we want to drift, we can zone out. If we want to work with life, we have to start where we are and notice what’s possible, what interests us, what helps … And if we want to build on what has gone before, we have to know what that is.

Feelings let us know, among other things, where we are not accepting.

Accept what is happening

Acceptance is not the same as passivity. Improvisers accept what has happened so far in order to build on it. Similarly, we can accept rather than resist or fight life, poverty, illness, fat, loneliness, addiction, aging, rejection, disappointment …as a first step. I also find it helpful to accept, as a possibility, futures I do not prefer. If I’m okay with the possibility of failing, it is easier for me to take intelligent risks (rather than either be fool hardy or play safe).

Change direction

The logical next step, whether it be the next promotion, settling down with someone or simply more of what is comfortable and familiar is usually the easiest thing to reach for but everything is changing all the time, including us. What was right for us yesterday, including an intuition or calling, may not be appropriate today. Hence, the need for continual close attention and the willingness to take intelligent risks to modify our approach or direction, especially in our fast changing world.

Know which impulses to follow

Impulses and ideas are plentiful. Being creative and effective in life is not about having lots of ideas, it is about knowing which ones to follow.

When we fully accept what is happening, we become one with it. This allows impulses to organically arise in direct response to the needs of the moment. When we are not busy resisting, we are better able to feel or sense how appropriate they are. Over time, we become more sensitive to this. Sometimes, we will also need to experiment, pay close attention to the results and modify our approach.

Build

Finally, we get to make our mark.

Improvisation and life work best when we relax and let something come rather than grasp for it. Improvisation games, played with or without an audience, are great ways to practice and develop trust, and remember how to play.

When children play, they want to have lots of goes. When adults play, we want to have one go and ace it. The more we let go of that, the more fun and, ultimately, success, we have.

Being ‘good to work with’

Another idea from improvisation is that of aiming to be ‘good to work with’, rather than trying to be a star. In life, this equates to my allowing what wants to happen, to happen through me, rather than trying to have everything my way.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm and is filed under co-creation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.